Five films for Christmas

Above: The Night Before Christmas (aka Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka)

Below: Curse of the Cat People

From It's a Wonderful Life to Die Hard to Holiday in Handcuffs, everyone has their favorite Christmastime films. And it's always fun to make lists. I'm a contrarian, so I'm not going to pick anything too obvious (sorry, George Bailey, Home Alone and Elf). And I'm not picking anything too violent, either (sorry, Hans Gruber and Black Christmas).

Here are five of my favorites for the holiday season ...

Curse of the Cat People, 1944, directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise. Producer Val Lewton threw a curveball with this "followup" to his influential 1942 low-budget hit Cat People. The main cast members return, but the plot makes only passing mention to the original. It's a powerful story about the loneliness and imagination of childhood, and to say more would spoil the surprises. I will note that it's set in Tarrytown, New York, and you're "ahead" of the game if you know what that means.

The Night Before Christmas (aka Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka), 1961, Alexander Rou. This one is a perfect example of my love for mid-century international oddities. It's bonkers right from the start, so the first five minutes will either delightfully suck you in or give you fair warning that it's not your cup of peppermint tea. It's based on a short story by Ukrainian-born Nikolai Gogol and set in Dykanka, a Ukrainian village. You can watch the full film, with English subtitles, on YouTube.

Scrooge (released as A Christmas Carol in the United States), 1951, Brian Desmond Hurst. There have been many wonderful filmed versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. But this one, the British version with Alastair Sim, is my favorite, in no small part because it's the one that was shown the most on TV when I was a kid. And, with apologies to the Muppets, it's a story that seems to work best in black and white, with every frame looking cold as a freezing winter morning.

The Signalman, 1976, Lawrence Gordon Clark. More Dickens! The plot of this 38-minute TV film doesn't have anything to do with Christmastime, other than that fact that Dickens ghost stories and Christmas go hand in hand (preferably with hot chocolate and warm pajamas). This was part of the BBC anthology series "A Ghost Story for Christmas." The British know best how to tap into the ghostly spookiness of December's long, dark nights, and The Signalman, starring the superb Denholm Elliott, is one of the series' most iconic episodes.

The Holdovers, 2023, Alexander Payne. Yes, I watch modern stuff, too! I watched this twice in early January and fell in love with it. Like Curse of the Cat People, it taps into the loneliness of the season, but ultimately to a much more comedic effect. It's set in December 1970 (the month I was born) and recreates that era brilliantly. And it's a tour de force for actors Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa. Highly recommended.

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On deck: I'm hoping to find time this month to watch another couple of films with the potential to be added to my list of Christmastime favorites: 1961's Cash on Demand, with Peter Cushing, and Fanny and Alexander, the much-lauded 1982 film by Ingmar Bergman. 

What are your holiday film, TV or cartoon favorites?